


after the storm

by saunatonttu



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Gen, Introspection, spoilers for ep 11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 16:15:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8923828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saunatonttu/pseuds/saunatonttu
Summary: He had seen it happen to many athletes before, figure skaters as well as others. He had never been able to relate, never truly understood how pressure could break someone’s wings like that.It was said you couldn’t understand someone unless you experienced their troubles yourself. It seemed to be the truth, now.





	

Winning a Grand Slam was a huge dream, and it had been possible for him since the beginning, he believed. JJ being the kind of person he was – of course he wanted to challenge himself to the very extreme.

Every athlete aimed for victory every time; that’s just how it should be. JJ was no different, having inherited his parents’ passion for the ice and dedicating everything to it. His music, exaggerated and unashamed, was yet another instrument to his skating. Isabella, his love and his support and his everything outside and inside the rink, and their promise to marry after this gold meant, and this was no exaggeration, the world to him.

No human ever contained just one world – there were many more.

Not one. Many.

But figure skating had been the dominating one in JJ’s life so far, to the point where he felt the most at ease on ice rather than on stage or even in front of cameras, being interviewed.

It was what he had grown up into, the thing that enveloped his family in its entirety. _A crazy family_ , they had been fondly labeled by the media and the commentators as well as their fans. _The skating gene too strong to deny._

It had never occurred to JJ how extraordinary his circumstances were – he had never given much thought to upholding the family name, either. His family loved him, unconditionally and generously, and so did Isabella. He gave as much as possible return, on ice and out in the “real” world.

Isabella and he would marry once he won the GPF and the World Champs later.

A promise that was meant to push him to his limit and do the very best in these competitions.

 

 

Well, that was before his disaster of a short program. He couldn’t even explain to himself _why_ it had happened, why his jumps weren’t as airy and why they didn’t rotate. His throat had gone dry as he sat waiting for his points – his lowest since entering the senior level.

It was a punch on the throat, and he couldn’t help but hang his head, unable to look at his coach by his side.

Failure – failure. It was a failure. This was failure.

Isabella’s voice reached him, first. As always. “JJ!”

And she pulled him back to the surface from the depths of his remaining anxiety and fear. The fans joined her, again, and something prickled nastily in his eyes.

Oh, he was luckier than anyone.

“Stop, stop,” he called out, forcibly theatric, before posing as himself again.

For them.

“It’s…”

For Isabella, for himself.

“…JJ style!”

 

 

It would be hard to follow through with his free skate with things as they were, but JJ was nothing if not tenacious and as loyal to his fans as they were towards him.

JJ would do it, even though now there was a deep unsettling fear in his gut that wasn’t the same one that had startled him during his short program.

He had seen it happen to many athletes before, figure skaters as well as others. He had never been able to relate, never truly understood how pressure could break someone’s wings like that.

It was said you couldn’t understand someone unless you experienced their troubles yourself.

It seemed to be the truth, now.

 

 

“Babe?” Isabella’s voice startled JJ away from his thoughts. He had been on the balcony for quite a while now, for once not feeling like going out to eat, perhaps longer than he had even realized. Isabella had gone, because JJ had insisted she shouldn’t miss out on dinner just because he was feeling out of sorts.

Thinking about it now, perhaps eating out alone was crueler than simply ordering room service, but…

“Bella,” he sighed when her hand reached for his by his side.

He turned his head, and there she was, looking at him like he hadn’t ruined everything. Like she still saw the person she fell in love with, like this JJ was the same as the JJ she knew.

Truly, God had blessed him with not only his siblings and parents but her as well.

She smiled at him, and her hand felt warm against his palm. “You didn’t fail anyone out there, you know.”

He rarely did argue with her, but right now he needed to. “But—“

She turned his face to her with her other hand, and her eyes sought out his. Not for the first time, her eyes were the anchor he needed, and he gave a slow sigh that he felt go through his entire body, from head to toe.

She was right, he knew. His fans weren’t petty enough to think of it as him failing them.

But the expectations laid on him, by himself. He had betrayed those – and he was used to keeping promises regardless of whether he made them with others or himself.

JJ threw an arm over Isabella’s shoulders and pulled her into a one-armed embrace, their foreheads touching as he looked into her eyes. Soft smile pulled his lips upwards, and it was much more real than what he had disgraced the audience with earlier.

Isabella wasn’t quite finished yet, however.

As her hand caressed his cheek, thumb brushing up his cheekbone, she told him, “Kings may rise and fall, but you’re not a king yet, JJ.”

 

 

 

 _Kings may rise and fall, but you’re not one yet,_ JJ thought to himself as he closed his eyes for sleep that night, Isabella by his side. It was easier to breathe.


End file.
